Please ignore if you are not living or working in the UK.
The existence of the BSc course in Audiology in the UK is under
discussion. These courses at various universities are internationally
recognised and lead to an excellent patient care of hearing impaired
people in the UK. Because of its structure and the interconnections,
it is also of immense importance to the wider auditory research
community in the UK, because a number of researchers are directly or
indirectly funded by these courses and quite a few graduates end up in
auditory research positions all over the country (hi there :)
Apparently the government worries that the quality of teaching and
research in the UK is too good, so it wants to abolish it, with far
reaching consequences to patients and the hearing research in the UK.
To avoid this, a petition has been created to make the government
aware of these issues (Apparently there is a worrying lack of
communication and consideration) Check out:
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Audiology-BSc
We need at least 500 signatures of people that are registered in the
UK to be officially registered.
The petition was created by Philip Holt and reads:
"Under the proposed Modernising Scientific Careers programme, led by
the Department of Health's Chief Scientific Officer, the current
dedicated BSc in Audiology is to be abolished. It will be replaced
with a generic healthcare science degree, with some specialisation in
audiology. We do not believe that this can provide the necessary level
of knowledge and skills to enable graduates to safely practice in the
fields of rehabilitative and diagnostic audiology. The curriculum for
the new courses, yet to be published by the Department of Health, has
not involved consultation with Audiology professionals. We believe
that curricula for vocational degrees should be developed by
professionals and educators in the field, rather than by the
Department of Health."
We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to protect patients and
the public by ensuring that the education and training of graduate
audiologists recognises the need for greater specialisation in
Audiology rather than more generic healthcare science."
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Dr. Stefan Bleeck
Senior Lecturer
Institute of Sound and Vibration Research
University of Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK
Room 4093, Tizard building (13)
Tel.: 02380 596682
email: bleeck@xxxxxxxxxxx